The most delicious and clean tacos ever! Sweet Potato with Greens and Plantain Tortillas, Paleo, Vegan and Awesome

Today is Cinco de Mayo (yay!) it is also the middle of a strict springtime vegan-paleo goal for me. So what to do. I looooove Mexican foods, it will be one of my favorite cuisines ever and always. My eyes were first opened to mind blowing vegan Mexican food at Gracias Madre in SF. I was lucky to eat there many times, but it was a taco plate when I first fell in love. There were piles of cooked leafy greens, spiced sweet potatoes, and all the crunchy toppings. I think there were beans and loads of their wonderful freshly made tortillas. This today is my homage to them.  The tortilla making is easy as pie, but if you love corn tortillas-by all means use those!

Paleo Plantain Tortillas 
with
Chili Sweet Potato, Leafy Greens, and Avocado

Tortillas:
Makes about 14 tortillas (taco "corn-tortilla" sized)

• 4 green plantains
• 1/4 cup hot water (or more)

Leafy Greens:

• 1 bunch collards, swiss chard, or kale
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt

Sweet Potatoes:

• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1-2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1  teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt

Also: 

• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Raddishes
• Cilantro
• Salsa

For these tortillas I want a savory or neutral sort of flavor so we use the unripe or green plantains. Peeling them can be a little bit of a chore, here is a link to my earlier instructions how to do this quickly. The plantains need to be peeled and sliced into chunks before boiling for 20 minutes. You will see the raw plantain is a very pale yellow color, once it has cooked in the boiling water there's a much deeper yellow color to the flesh. 

When the plantains are fork tender drain into a colander in the sink. Wait 5 minutes so they cool a bit. Place plantains in the bowl of a standing mixer, mix on low for about 5-8 minutes. If you have the plastic guard that keeps things from jumping out the sides of the bowl now is the time to use it. If not you can hold a tea towel around the top of the bowl until pieces stop trying to jump out. 

At first it may seem very dry and crumbly, but there is a nice point when everything comes dough like. Depending on your plantains and how ripe and cooked they are this may take more time than you expect just keep the mixer on. If everything is looking very dry, which happens due to moisture escaping through the steam, add a splash of hot water until you have a consistency like cookie dough. 

With our plantain massa ready we can move onto shaping and cooking the tortillas:

You will need a tortilla press or two rigid cutting boards. Parchment paper folded in half or a plastic bag cut into two pieces.Some coconut oil or other oil of your choice. A hot griddle or frypan. 

1. Heat the griddle.
2. Apply a tiny bit of coconut oil to the inside spots of the full department where you will flatten the dough. 
3. Roll a ball of the dough in your hands.
4. Place in between the two sheets of parchment or plastic
5. Position this parchment sandwich in between your two cutting board or tortilla press. 
6. Press straight down, with all your bodyweight. 
7. Remove the top cutting board and check your tortilla. 
8. Peel off the parchment carefully, this is easier than you imagine.
9. Move the tortilla in hand directly to the griddle.
10. Cook on each side for about 5 minutes. They will look dry, pale, with not much color. The edges will turn out just a bit. 

Repeat until the dough is all used up! 

Cut a bunch of collards or Swiss chard into thin ribbons. Cook on the stove with two cloves of minced garlic, salt, a teaspoon of cumin, and a 1/2 cup of water. Simmer and sauté until the water has about braided and your greens are tender and bright. 

Cube your sweet potatoes into roughly half inch pieces. Toss to coat with olive oil  and 1 to 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Spread on a sheet pan in one layer. Bake roast at 350° for about 30 minutes, until they're tender. There is no need to stir the sweet potatoes while they are roasting see you can just forget about them until the timer beeps!

Clearly, tacos should be assembled right as you are going to eat them. Place a small bed of greens as a base on the tortilla, followed by sweet potatoes, then topped off with thin slices of avocado, radish, cabbage and cilantro. salsa or hot sauce is always a good idea in my book.

 Enjoy!
***The tortillas will keep for a few days in the fridge kept sealed up in a bag. Very good just microwaved for 20 seconds to warm them up again. Or even better, throw on a hot dry pan till warm.

Chorizo Meatballs Tapas Style

It's meatball season! Seriously, not only did my Global Meatballs cookbook come out on bookshelves and kindle this week, (buy it here!) but I have been seeing meatballs everywhere. On magazine covers, menus and all over twitter. Even my favorite Parisian chocolate king David Lebovitz is making meatballs this week.

Meatballs are economical comfort food, they both feed a crowd and make good leftovers. Meatballs are a canvas, easy to try some funky and try new things, but not too far out of a comfort zone.

In keeping with Sunday Night Football and the day when many of you make food for those who sit back and watch the AFC Championship, I give you these Spanish Chorizo meatballs. The meatballs are bite sized, use toothpicks or fingers, no forks necessary. They have a country style chunky texture and a smoky flavor that pairs well with chips, guacamole, wings and other game day foods.

The meat you will likely need to go to a store for, but all the other ingredients are simple and likely in most pantries. White wine, bread, paprika, parsley, salt, pepper. And an egg.  Note- you could use a light beer in place of the wine with good results!

I laid out all the ingredients today and then realized the egg carton was empty! What a nasty trick, an empty egg carton in the fridge, and I had just been to the store. I heaved a sigh and pulled on winter boots, enormous parka complete with fuzzy hood, and mittens. In the 15° sunshine I walked down the road to my aunt's house to buy some of her chicken eggs. I found her chickens in a barn door  huddled from the wind and basking in a slice of strong sunshine.

Eggs resupplied, onward I moved with meatball making. 2 slices of bread soaked in white wine. All bread is good, but best to stay away from seeded bread here, and if the crusts are very tough, omit them. This time I used white gluten free white bread from Canyon Bakehouse and it worked great! Mince parsley and garlic. Crack in one egg and measure salt, paprika, and pepper. To this, add ground pork and chorizo removed from the casings.

Roll into balls smaller than golf balls, about 1 inch across, like a ping pong ball. After I roll about 8 balls the meat gets sticky on my palms. I find a brief rinse of my hands in cool water will stop the stickiness from happening.


As they are made, place onto a baking tray or two. Parchment paper or foil makes for easy cleanup, but is not necessary to avoid sticking while baking.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes.

When done the meatballs will sizzle on the pan, they will have tightened up, taken on a golden color, and an internal temperature of at least 160°.


Pile onto a serving platter with napkins and toothpicks nearby and watch them be enjoyed. I like a glass of crisp white wine with mine, but beer would is just as good, if not more appropriate for the Patriots vs. Colts and the Seahawks vs. Packers playoff games. It will be a tense afternoon.

Stay tuned for two opposing meatball recipes for Superbowl Sunday!

Chorizo Tapas Style Meatballs

• 2 slices bread (regular or gluten free)
• 1/3 cup white wine or light beer
• 4-6 ounces uncooked chorizo sausage 
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 egg
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°

Soak the bread in the wine for 10 minutes.

Mince garlic and parsley. Mix in a bowl with the egg, paprika, salt, black pepper and mushy bread and wine mixture.

Remove the chorizo sausage from their casings. Add the sausage meat and ground pork to the bowl as well. Using a hand, squeeze everything together over and over to combine it very well.  Bread, herbs, and meat should we well mixed, yes you can see the independent parts but they are evenly distributed.

Roll into ping pong sized balls (1 - 1.5 inches) place on a baking tray, bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350°. Serve hot or at room temperature.